Elections

Elections

7. Campaigns can make the difference in elections by reawakening partisan loyalties of voters, giving voters a chance to see how candidates handle pressure and giving candidates a chance to apply pressure (negative advertising), and letting voters judge the character and core values of candidates. People want to know how candidates will really act, not just what their position papers say. Thus, there is a tendency to focus on the themes and not on the details so that as many people as possible can be satisfied. Themes have changed from slavery in the 19th century to temperance and women suffrage at the turn of the century to abortion and moral topics in the 1970s and 80s.
8. Party realignment in politics means switching preference and loyalty by voters or political activists from one party to another. It is normally a result of highly polarized campaigns and heightened public interest and voter turnout. Political realignment happens when voters change their attitudes toward political parties. The presidential election of 1896 demonstrated a sharp division in society between urban and rural interests.It is seen to be the beginning of a new era in American politics, or a 'realignment' election, highlighting the changes that were occurring in American society at the turn of the 19th century. This was the last election in which a candidate tried to win the White House with mostly agrarian votes. Another shift in political parties occurred with the presidential election of 1932. Franklin Roosevelt's Democratic Party came to power by forming the New Deal coalition that united groups that previously had not been associated with the same party. These included urban workers, northern African-Americans, Southern whites, and Jewish voters. Today's Democratic Party is still largely comprised of this coalition. Significance: A new coalition and realignment of political parties occurred that would help shape future policies and elections.
9. Candidates do not want to change...